Bought a Wii U as a gift? Nintendo’s advice before you give it

If you’ve bought the new Wii U as a Christmas gift for a loved one, you may think your work is done once you’ve gift wrapped the box and stuck a bow on top.

But, your generosity may not be enough. You may have to open it again and re-wrap if you want to follow advice just released by Nintendo.

The Japanese gaming giant has just tweeted to point out that recipients would appreciate being able to use the console immediately on Christmas day if the updates have been performed in advance.

“Giving #Wii U as a gift? Pro-tip: Perform system updates before wrapping so it’s good to go as soon as it’s opened!”

From next year, Wii U consoles will ship with the update already pre-installed. But, at the moment, the Wii U can’t be used straight away without carrying out an update to install the system’s online features, which include Miiverse, Nintendo Chat and the eShop. For those hoping to get their hands on their new toy straight away, having to wait for the update to complete may prove frustrating.

The downside, though, is the fact that the “newness” of the gift will be compromised by the fact you would have to open the packaging and plug in the console to perform the update.

But the tweet was met with a mixed response from tech forum users. One said the update wouldn’t be necessary, explaining: “You can play games while updating. If you’re not likely going to be playing online, you don’t need to install it.”

Another, however, clearly referring to controversy surrounding Wii U updates, said: “If you’re lucky, it’ll get to one per cent by the 25th.”

The advice from Nintendo comes after the video game company was criticised over update problems after the console launched on November 30 in Europe and December 8 in Japan.

Many users reported their systems weren’t working properly after they tried to perform the update. The update reportedly takes around one to two hours but if internet connection is lost during that time or you suffer a power failure, the Wii U can be bricked, or become unusable.

Users immediately took to social media and technology forums to complain about the problem. One of those to suffer problems was Los Angeles Times business reporter Ben Fritz, who tweeted: “Wii U has stopped functioning before I managed to play a single game. I tried to stop an interminable software update and now… nothing. On a related note, anybody in the market for a big black paperweight?”

Nintendo warned users not to “power off your system” during the update process. And, any issues faced should hopefully be covered by Nintendo’s 12-month guarantee. But Chris Green, who is a technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group, said: “I’m afraid it’s a case of buyer beware to those who try to cancel the update part way through – that would mess up any hardware.”